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Academics and general readers will want to add this title to their bookshelves. Arguably, the book's true value lies elsewhere Perhaps even more important, he exposes the political and cultural forces that transformed a humble collector and planter of apple seeds into an American icon. In so doing, he causes us to experience and appreciate places like Appleseed Park in Athens, Ohio, in altogether new and different ways.
They will also be delighted to discover that the tastelessness of an overproduced, overgrown, chemically dependent apple is absent; instead, they will find the invigorating crispness and freshness of a sun-ripened, pioneer apple, eaten at leisure with one's back against a sturdy tree.
Kerrigan's blog post on the myth of Johnny Appleseed. Review on New Books Network. Review in The New England Quarterly. Join our email listserv and receive monthly updates on the latest titles. Availability Text Usually ships business days after receipt of order. Choose binding Hardcover Paperback E-book.
Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard: Before mass media and the Internet, there was folklore. Kerrigan grounds his book in extensive and dogged research but also weaves a subtle and highly readable account of Chapman's story and the place of the American orchard and the Appleseed story in the saga of the taming and transformation of the American frontier. Jim Kerrigan rated it it was amazing Dec 23, When he is not writing and thinking about apples, he teaches American History and directs his students in local history projects. A pacifist, vegetarian, uneducated, impoverished, altrui Before mass media and the Internet, there was folklore.
Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard. Lists with This Book. Jan 25, michaelben rated it really liked it Shelves: One reviewer has criticized the "academic flavor" of this book and dismissed it as a "giant term paper.
Means' is certainly an enjoyable and easier read, written in a more popular style. His style scholarly, but it is not dry. Jul 16, Naomi rated it really liked it Shelves: Kerrigan's exploration of John Chapman's life and the mythology surrounding him is insightful. His defense of Chapman's choice for seeds over grafted trees makes good sense. Some more recent work on indigenous horticultural practices challenges his characterization, but Kerrigan also shares information on the more obvious European-model orchards adopted by some of the Iroquois relatively early in colonial history.
Good conversations to be had from and around this book.
Jun 10, Emmett rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: A highly readable account of the life Johnny Appleseed. William Kerrigan explores the legand and the man as a nurseryman, pacifist, missionary, businessman, conservationalist, and minimalist. I recommend it with five stars!
Jul 23, Gregg Sapp rated it really liked it. Before mass media and the Internet, there was folklore. Whether folklore, in the sense of conveying a traditional cultural narrative, is facilitated, transformed, superseded or destroyed by the Internet is an argument for another day. Stories about folkloric characters usually say more about the cultures that produce them than they do about the individuals themselves. A pacifist, vegetarian, uneducated, impoverished, altrui Before mass media and the Internet, there was folklore.
A pacifist, vegetarian, uneducated, impoverished, altruistic Jesus-freak who opened up a vast frontier by promoting peace through fruit stands dramatically apart from the crude, violent, hell-raising folk heroes like Daniel Boone, Paul Bunyan, or Mike Fink. Appleseed was a lover, not a fighter. He may be the original counter-cultural hero. Mostly, he was motivated by the desire to improve his own material condition, same as anybody else.
Nor was he even necessarily all that eccentric, compared to the common rabble that one would find on the Ohio frontier in the early s. For example, as much as he railed against how it was unnatural to graft fruit trees, his arguments were unpersuasive to a generation of more well-off orchardists who could see clearly that grafting improved the quality of the yield. Johnny identified with older and he believed more virtuous ways of doing things — doomed though they were. Viewed that way, his famous eccentricity might be nothing more than righteous backwardness.
To this day, there is plenty of popular sympathy for characters who refuse to change with the times.
Kerrigan sees Johnny as a bit daft, but hardly insane, and outside of the mainstream, but not alone in his beliefs. I wonder how the man, John Chapman, would have regarded the mythology that developed around him. He might call it unnatural. Feb 06, Sue rated it it was ok.
I was turned off, immediately, but the statement in the Preface that highlighted " domestication of a continent and North America". I am one of those who disagree with the notion of Manifest Destiny. You'd think I'd agree with the Johnny Appleseed notion on non-violence. I was raised in another country so Johnny Appleseed barely touched the map of my education. If they're throwing it down the children's throats,.
I was disgusted with the academic flavor of t I was turned off, immediately, but the statement in the Preface that highlighted " domestication of a continent and North America". A giant term paper. Sep 08, Mia Sheppard added it. I thought this book was a great book for people who don't have parents. This book can almost teach you how to survive if you don't have loving to help you get through life parents.
Something I wish was different about the book is that I wish that it had pictures about all of johnny's great achievments. I would recommend this book to people like adventure. This book has a lot of adventures stuff in it. I am pretty sure a little kid would enjoy all the adventure. This book may also change peoples I thought this book was a great book for people who don't have parents. This book may also change peoples perspective of there life and show them that they can do any thing in life if they try.
Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard illuminates the meaning of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman's life and the environmental and cultural significance of. Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard illuminates the meaning of Johnny Appleseed Chapman's life and the environmental and cultural significance of.
Jan 30, Mhershoc rated it it was amazing. A thoughtful and innovative reexamination of the life of John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed and the later creation of the Johnny Appleseed myth.